This invention relates generally to an apparatus for supporting articles such as automotive body parts, appliance body parts, tools and the like, to receive service, and more particularly to a convertible apparatus providing multiple positions, horizontal as well as easel-like, to support such articles.
In general, body parts are large, cumbersome and awkward to handle when in need of repair. This is the case for most body parts including automotive, appliance and the like. Because of their weight, such body parts require a support apparatus capable of withstanding the additional stress caused by servicing operations while maintaining the body part in position without damaging the part.
Repair shops for body work often use readily available surfaces as a "make-do" support system. Often this results in a collapse of the system due to the weight and or awkwardness of the part as well as from the type of stress applied while reconditioning such part. Therefore, there exists a need for an apparatus designed to provide a strong, stable support to hold body parts in a variety of horizontal as well as easel-like positions while applying additional stress to such supported body part.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,268,020 issued May 19, 1981 to Wood, recognized the need for providing support for repairing body parts. This reference discloses a collapsible device for supporting automotive body parts either horizontally or in a substantially vertical position. The device teaches brackets to hold the body part in such a vertical position on the device. As a result the device lacks the stability demonstrated in the present invention.
Consequently, a need exists for an apparatus capable of maintaining large, unwieldy body parts on either a fixed horizontally disposed support or on a fixed easel-like support which can be readily collapsed for storage.